Memories
by Kaywi
Summary: Akane is having vivid dreams about a boy who saved her life many years ago. Why is she having these dreams? What do they mean? Will Akane be able to find this boy and find out if he needs help? RaXaka
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello, my lovely readers! I know many of you are probably thinking "Why is she working on another story and not updating "Just Married!"?" WELL, have no worries, I am not putting the story on hiatus; I just wanted to work on something a little more fresh. This idea has been in my head for so long, it's about time I put it on paper er... screen. n_n Anyways, enjoy!

**Memories**

**A Ranma Fanfiction**

**Story by: Kaywi**

***~ XxX*~**

"_HELPPP! KASUMI! NABIKI! DADDD!!" Akane screamed as her hand began slipping off the cliff's edge. __**I can't hold on any longer!**__ Her mind screamed. __**I'm going to die!**_

_Akane clenched her eyes closed as she felt her hand begin to slip. A single tear rolled down her cheek as her young life flashed before her eyes. Her hand had almost completely fallen when she felt a strong, warm hand atop of hers._

"_Hold on!" someone screamed above her. Akane looked up to see a young boy, about her age, grabbing onto her. He tugged with all his might to save her and even felt himself slipping._

"_Save yourself!" the dark haired girl shouted to the boy. She didn't want both of them to die!_

"_No!" he shouted back and tugged even harder. Within seconds, the boy was able to grab Akane off the ledge of cliff and pull her safely onto the ground._

_Tears flooded down the young girl's cheeks as she sat to the ground. The boy was breathing heavily and turned to look at her._

_He placed a tender hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay..." he soothed. "You're okay now."_

"_Thank... thank you..." Akane whispered, looking up at him, her chocolate brown eyes damp._

"_What's your name?" he said with a warm smile. _

"_A-Akane. My name's Akane."_

_**~* Xx *~**_

Akane awoke with a startled gasp, her head positively throbbing. She placed her hand on her head, attempting to stop the pain. The clock read 5:13. She'd awoken again, to the exact same dream.

The dream, however, was not simply a dream. It was... a memory. A very far off memory that had happened many years ago. That same memory repeated itself every night, never resting. It woke her up at all hours in the night and just wouldn`t cease.

_**What is going on?**_ Akane thought. _**Why do I keep having this dream? Why does this childhood memory keep coming back to haunt me?**_

The raven-haired girl got up from her bed; there was no use in going back to sleep. She was exhausted. These dreams were waking her up way too early.

Akane felt her body damp with sweat and decided to take a morning shower. It would do her some good.

Ranma awoke to the sound of the water running from the furo down the hall. _**Damn**_, he thought. _**Akane again? This must be the fourth one this week!**_ Ranma wondered what was keeping his fiancé up all night. He'd heard her mumble to her family something about dreams, but he just couldn't quite put his finger on what was bothering her.

Deep down, the boy had strong feelings for the girl. Those were obvious. He wasn't sure HOW strong those feelings were, and by damn he would NEVER admit them, but they were there. It hurt him seeing her so weak, exhausted, defenceless.

Ranma padded down the hall, softly, trying not to make Akane jump to conclusions. Usually, if Akane heard a single sound during the night, she would immediately assume it was a predator and grab her bokken. In the end, it would result in Ranma orbiting in space with a sword mark imprinted on his forehead. _**No thank you, **_he thought.

He quietly approached the bathroom door and hesitantly pondered whether he should knock or not. In the end, he realized that he was concerned and the only way to get to the bottom of this was to confront her. With much trepidation, he knocked, startling the teenage girl.

"Wh-who's there?" she called, fear lacing her voice.

Ranma cleared his throat, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "A-A-Akane?" he said. _**What a place to have a conversation, Ranma! **_the boy thought.

"Ranma?" Akane replied, her fear dying down. "What are you doing up so early? Don't tell me you came to peak on me!"

Ranma bit his tongue, trying not to slip any insults out. The young martial artist had a bit of a problem with "diarrhea of the lips" or "foot-in-the-mouth syndrome". In other words, he always had a knack for letting out insults that really hurt his fiancé. You name it and he'd come up with it. Flat-chested, built as a brick, thighs too thick... and those insults also resulted in an orbiting Ranma. That was the LAST thing he needed. In order to talk to her, she needed to be calm. But damn, that sure ticked him off. Why did she always assume he was such a pervert?

"No, of course not!" he said, trying not to raise his voice.

"Well, hold on a minute. I'm almost finished. I'll meet you in the kitchen, alright?"

Ranma nodded silently to himself and walked softly down the hallway. He entered the kitchen and filled a large pot with hot water and placed it on the stove. The pot made a soft humming sound. It was comforting.

The silence made Ranma question his relationship with Akane. Sure, he had feelings for her, but how did he know if they were mutual? It had been three years since he'd arrived at the Tendo residence. Three years! A whole year since the failed wedding and nothing had changed. The same suitors, the same arguments... he wondered if it would ever just stop. If him and Akane would... _could_ ever settle down.

Ranma heard soft footsteps arrive at the door and saw his fiancée standing there. She was clad in damp, fuzzy slippers and a soft, pink robe. The towel wrapped around her head was her favourite, like he'd heard her say many times. It was her mother's, to be exact.

"Hey," he said, softly and sat down onto one of the chairs against the kitchen table. He'd matured a bit since his childhood days but hey, so did Akane.

"Hey, yourself." She said and sat down in the chair next to him. However, he noticed there was a large space between them.

"It's hot outside, isn't it?" Akane said, fanning herself.

"Let's cut to the chase." Ranma replied, narrowing his eyes. "Akane, why are you up so early? What's wrong?"

Akane closed her eyes. "Nothing, Ranma... it has nothing to do with you."

"Damn, yes it does!" he growled, his voice rising a bit. "Look at you! You're exhausted!"

Akane looked down, not keeping his gaze. He placed a tender hand on her cheek and she caught his eye for a moment. His deep blue eyes seared into her.

"Tell me." He whispered. Akane's heart thumped wildly.

She quickly swatted his hand away and Ranma's heart squeezed. Finally, after a moment of silence, she spoke.

"Alright, I'll tell you, Ranma... but you promise you won't laugh?"

"Of course not!" he said, a little too loudly. Akane placed a finger against her lips, motioning for him to be quiet.

"Okay, Ranma... I'm having these... dreams."

"Dreams?" he repeated, concern lacing his voice.

"Yeah... about this boy..."

Ranma's eyes flickered for a second at the word "boy". Those dreams had better have not been about Ryoga or Kuno... unless they involved a very violent scene. He wouldn't bare hearing her speak about other guys with him alive.

"I don't know what's going on! I met this boy like ten years ago, when I was very young... he... saved my life as well."

Ranma mentally groaned. If this was about Shinnousuke again, he would tear him apart with his bare hands. "Don't tell me... Shinnousuke?"

"No, you idiot! See why I didn't want to tell you?!"

"Okay, okay. Continue."

"Ranma... I'm scared... what if this situation IS like Shinnousuke? What if this is a sign that that boy is in trouble or something... all because of me?"

"Oh, Akane..." Ranma sighed. "Don't tell me-"

"YOU SEE?!" she shouted, then quickly placed two hands on her lips. She repeated, more quietly. "You see? I can never tell you anything! You never believe me!"

"Akane..." he repeated, trying to calm her down. Sometimes his fiancée had a knack for jumping to conclusions. "Listen..."

"No." She said firmly, with finality. "YOU listen. I'm going to prove you wrong, you got that?" with those last words, she turned and ran up the stairs, tears in her eyes.

Ranma glared at her back and stamped his foot down with a grunt. "Uncute, uncute, UNCUTE!" he hissed. Why did she always have to be like that? Whenever "trouble" was all over the place, Akane didn't run from it. Oh, no. She WENT to it and tried to fight herself! Akane was strong. Everyone knew that. But the girl needed to realize there WERE people stronger than her.

Ranma grimaced yet again, turned the stove off and walked back upstairs quietly.

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Akane walked down the street, just passing the cat cafe. She watched as Shampoo, the busty, beautiful, purple-haired Chinese girl pranced around the restaurant, serving the men who gave her lusty-looks. She rolled her eyes. Her and Shampoo had never gotten along. Shampoo, you see, was one of her rivals. She, too, was one of Ranma's fiancées. However, she was much more... affectionate than her and Ukyo. She was constantly pouncing on Ranma, giving him random embraces and attempting to kiss him.

Sometimes, deep down, she wanted to be more like her. Not in everything of course, but just the fact that she wasn't shy to show her emotions.

Akane shook her head, not believing that she almost wished she could be like _Shampoo_.

She decided to concentrate on what really mattered. Those dreams she was having. They were obviously happening to tell her something. The first thing she needed to find out was _who_ the boy was.

Akane faintly remembered where the whole scene had happened, ten years ago. It was in Hokkaido, during a family vacation. All she remembered was that she'd wandered off by herself and that resulted in absolute disaster...

Akane clenched her fist in determination. So that was it. She needed to go to Hokkaido as soon as possible. She needed to clear up everything with that boy and help him if he needed help. That was the only way her dreams would stop and her conscience would leave her alone... for good.

Akane walked a little farther, toward Nerima park and then turned back around, heading back home. She'd left right after breakfast, just for a little walk to clear her mind. Her and Ranma hadn't spoken since the morning.

_**That baka...**_ she thought. He never believed anything she said. Akane tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, the wind blowing a light, heated breeze her way. Akane also felt leaving for a little while would help her relationship with Ranma... that is, if you classified what they had a "relationship".

She wouldn't tell anyone she was leaving. That would mess everything up. Her father, being the most paranoid father she knew, would never, ever agree to this. Also, Nabiki would definitely do something to embarrass her for her own profit. Plus, Ranma would just follow her or also force her not to leave.

It was settled. She would buy a ticket to Hokkaido as soon as possible, and return once she'd found the person she was looking for. It was the least she could do.

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A/N: A little short beginning, but beginnings are the hardest things to write. It is going to be RanmaXAkane, of course, don't worry. So WHO is Akane's blast from the past? Wait and see!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I have a whole lot of free time this weekend, so I decided to update. I hope you enjoy ^^

Memories

Chapter Two

Fanfiction by: Kaywi

Ranma awoke to the sound of screaming and crying downstairs. He quickly got up, worried spitless about what could have happened. One thought ran over in his head again and again: is Akane okay?

Ranma ran down the stairs and literally jumped over the stair rail. He jogged into the kitchen and saw Soun in fatal position, on the floor.

"Mr... Tendo?" Ranma said, raising an eyebrow. "A-are you... okay?"

"Akane!" Mr. Tendo gasped once again.

"Akane?" Ranma hissed. "What about Akane?"

Nabiki walked into the room, hands behind her head. "It seems your little fiancée ran away once again,"

"Ran away?" Ranma questioned.

"Yep. Packed her bags, left a note and left."

Soun, still sniffling, handed a note to Ranma.

I'm going to Hokkaido. I'll be back soon, I promise. DON'T WORRY.

Akane

Ranma resisted the urge to crumple the note. He despised it when Akane did these things. If she was certain on going, why didn't she ask someone to go with her? Did she not realize that it was dangerous having a girl walk around by herself?

"This is your fault, isn't it, pigtail?" Nabiki said, giving him a sly look.

"Wuh?" Ranma replied, his eyes widening and his lip twitching. How was this his fault?

"Yesterday Akane was upset and I know it was your fault. What did you say to her?"

Soun's face twitched up at the conversation. His emotions immediately changed from sadness to pure anger. "RANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNMAAAAAAA!" shouted Mr. Tendo.

"Wh-what?" Ranma replied, stepping back.

The Tendo father grabbed Ranma by the shirt. "This is your fault! My poor little girl is out there all by herself and it's because of you!"

"How is it my fault?!" Ranma sputtered.

Mr. Tendo's eyes alighted with fire as he grabbed Ranma once again and this time threw him outside.

"You are not to return through these doors until Akane is back and safe!" he cried. Kasumi handed him a bag with three clean Chinese shirts, underwear and some pants.

Ranma rolled his eyes, groaning. They always assumed it was his fault! If anything, it was that dumb tomboy's fault, always wanting to HELP and BUD IN when it wasn't really any of her business to worry about!

Still, he couldn't help but worry.

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Akane got off the Nerima City Train, finally arriving in Hokkido. Her heart warmed at the sight, it reminded her so much of her mother.

Akane got a map out of her bag and decided to firstly head to the hotel near the cliff where she'd been saved. That would be the most logical thing to do, right?

A boy bumped into her, making his way through the crowd. Akane was about to snap that he should watch where he was going, when her gaze softened. The boy was about as tall as Ranma.

It had only been a short while and she already missed him. She hoped he wasn't worried. Feh, anyway, like he would worry about her. He was probably already with Shampoo and Ukyou...

Akane shook her head violently. The last thing she wanted to think about was... him. He didn't even believe her.

The dark haired girl reached over and tugged on her skirt, fixing it. She dressed comfortably for the day: a simple yellow t-shirt with a cotton pink skirt. She wore pink tube socks with bows and simple running shoes.

She took a bus for about another half hour to reach west Hokkido where she would walk for about five minutes to reach the hotel.

As she walked, everything about the place brought back memories. It looked the exact same. The same trail... everything.

Finally, Akane saw the hotel. She decided to walk a little further and finally saw... the cliff!

Akane ran over to it and kneeled down, examining the edge. It caused a bunch of memories to burst into her head.

He had saved her life...

She hoped with all her heart that he wasn't in danger. When the Shinnousuke problem occurred, it killed her to see someone in pain all because of her. For some reason, and she didn't know why, this situation seemed much more... important... almost like she would benefit from it, too.

Akane examined the edge for a few more seconds until she got up. She began brushing off her skirt when someone startled her.

"Hey," they said.

The sudden unexpected voice caused Akane to take a step further, thus almost making her fall off the edge. She screamed, waving her arms around when the person dashed over to her with incredible speed. He quickly grabbed her wrists, helping her steady herself.

Akane's heart thumped wildly as the stranger spoke once again.

"Are you crazy? Don't you know you're not supposed to stand by the edge of a cliff?! You could've killed yourself!" he nagged.

Akane looked at her savoir, too stunned to speak. He was tall, even taller than Ranma, with dark brown hair and pitch-black eyes. The boy was toned in all places, which showed that he worked out. Akane wondered if he was a martial artist.

"S-sorry." Akane said, finally speaking. The boy softened and released her wrists. She could've sworn the even saw him... blush.

"That's okay." He said, giving her a small smile. "It was rude of me to lash out at you like that. I'm Drei, by the way."

"I'm Akane. Akane Tendo."

"Akane..." he repeated quietly to himself. It was a pretty name.

Akane nodded. She silently cursed herself for being so clumsy. She could've hurt herself again!

"Thank you," Akane said to Drei. ``I have a knack for being a bit... clumsy."

Drei laughed loudly. "That's alright! I'm like that sometimes, too!"

Deep down, Akane knew he was lying, but it still made her feel good.

"Anyways," he said, leaning against the edge of a large rock. "What are you doing here, in west Hokkido? Many tourists don't come here."

"I'm..." Akane hesitated. "Looking for someone."

"Well," Drei said. "I could help you. I live like two houses down from here."

"Really?" Akane gasped. "Oh, I'm so glad!"

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Akane finished checking into the hotel and dropped her bags in the room. Right after, her and Drei walked over to his house.

His house was small, about only three rooms, but it had a homely feeling to it.

Akane noticed Drei was quite nice. She realized that already. He wasn't like the other boys at her school who swooned over her. He had even offered for her to stay at his house instead of paying for a hotel room. Of course, however, Akane declined.

After making herself at home, Akane sat down in the center of his home, near the television. He brought some small cakes and tea for them to nibble on.

"Drei..." Akane asked, being a bit sceptical about the question that ran through her mind. "Why do you live... alone?"

"Well, I sort-of live with my uncle. He's just always out, working. My parents passed away when I was two."

"I'm sorry."

He laughed once again. "Oh, that's alright! I barely knew them, anyhow."

Akane smiled. She really liked his laugh. It was sincere.

The youngest Tendo reached for a cake. They were tasty.

"So... Akane. Tell me a little about yourself."

Akane laughed. "Well... there's not really much to tell."

He smiled once again. Deep down, Drei wondered what a girl like Akane was doing in a place like west Hokkido all by herself.

It really pained him, but Akane reminded him a lot of his ex girlfriend, Keiko. He had loved her with all his heart until he caught her with another man...

She had the same short, dark hair. The same... chocolate eyes...

"So," he said, breaking the memories. "You said you were looking for someone."

Akane nodded. She thought for a moment and wondered whether or not she should tell him her story. She decided not to, worried he would laugh.

She giggled, "Well, the problem is I don't know much about them. All I know is they were around the cliff area here about ten years ago."

He grimaced. "Well, that's not much information..."

"Yeah, but I'm positive more will come."

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Ranma had finally arrived in Hokkido after a long train ride. The ride was pure hell for him. He was forced to be seated beside an obese middle-aged man who smelled awful. To top it all off, he kept leaning on him, spitting, sleeping and belching in his ear the whole ride. Needless to say, Ranma was glad to have arrived.

The only problem was... where was he supposed to go?

Akane didn't give him one exact location. He'd have to search everywhere in Hokkido... who knew how long that would take?

Stupid, Akane. Ranma thought. That girl is one damn idiot. Runnin' off by herself. Who knows what kind of weirdoes...

Ranma became angry. He picked up his pace and decided to ask someone at the train office. Someone was BOUND to have seen Akane.

Ranma entered the little shack "office" and ran to the counter.

"Hello," he asked the middle-aged, partly grey-haired man. "I was just wondering... when did Akane Tendo's train arrive?"

"That's confidential information, sir." He replied.

"Hey, but I'm... I'm her fiancé."

"I don't care who you are. That's confidential information."

Suddenly, Ranma's anger boiled. "OKAY, mister." He grabbed him by the shirt. "I NEED to know where Akane Tendo is. So, if you don't give me that information..."

"Okay, okay!" the man sputtered. "Just a moment!" he jumped away from the pigtailed martial artist and ran over to the counter. He typed in a few things on the computer and there popped up Akane's name.

"Akane Tendo. Well, she arrived about five hours ago. When she arrived, she took a bus to west Hokkido."

"Thank you," Ranma said quickly and walked out the door. Suddenly, Ranma returned into the shack, shy at what he had forgotten to ask.

"Uhm... when does the next bus arrive?"

The man laughed. "In a half hour, bud."

"Uh, thanks again, mister."

"No problem."

Ranma left the shack once again and the old man shook his head. "Young love." He muttered.

Ranma waited at the stop for over an hour when the bus finally arrived. Ranma spat a few words at the bus driver for being late and took his seat. Just about everyone was ticking him off today. What caused all this anger was the fact that... as much as he hated to admit it... he was worried.

After about thirty minutes, they hit west Hokkido and Ranma got off the bus. He smelled the fresh, sea-salt air and it smelled relaxing.

The young man walked around, searching for any sign of his fiancé. He passed the ocean, looking for that "cliff's edge" she talked about.

He was stumped. He couldn't find it.

Again, he cursed Akane. Why did she have to run off by herself?!

As Ranma searched some more, he passed by an elderly woman who had fallen. The martial artist quickly ran over to her, helping her up.

"Are you alright?" he whispered to her.

"Ouch, my back." She exclaimed. "That's why I get, sonny-boy, for carrying so many cabbages at once..."

"Can you stand up by yourself?"

"I think I..." her bone popped. "Ouch! Actually, could you help me walk to my house? It's not far, I promise."

Ranma resisted the urge to groan, but helped her, anyhow. He could never leave a helpless person like that alone. His conscious wouldn't let him.

However, it turned out that the old woman was directionless, like Ryoga. They had gotten lost twice before he had finally reached her house. Worse yet, he had to carry her the whole way there.

Eventually, when they FINALLY arrived at her house, it became quite dark outside. The old lady offered... no, FORCED Ranma to sleep over in her spare room. She said it was the least she could do, and she wouldn't allow a young man like him walking around in the dark. Much to Ranma's disappointment, he knew she was right. It would be no use trying to find his fiancé in the dark.

But, while Ranma lay down on the mattress in her spare room, he just couldn't sleep. Not when he didn't know where she was...

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Akane and Drei stayed up quite late, just talking. Eventually, Akane decided it was time to hit the hay and said good-bye. Drei, being the gentlemen he was, offered to walk her to the hotel.

"It's only a two minute walk!" she giggled. "There's no point in bothering yourself to walk me for that!"

"Meh, it's dark and dangerous outside. Plus, I... I want to."

"Alright," Akane said, taking his last statement lightly. "It's your decision..."

After Akane walked into her hotel room, grabbed a glass of water and put her pyjamas on, she was exhausted.

Akane`s eyes closed as the thoughts of the day pooled into her mind.

She still hadn't found the boy. Akane was upset because she was positive that he had to be around here. She had a gut feeling that he for sure WAS in Hokkido! Akane shook her head, dropping her thoughts and falling into a deep sleep.

However, Akane awoke in the middle of the night, after having the SAME dream yet again. Akane swatted her forehead. She was so STUPID!

That boy... could he... could he possibly be....

Drei!?

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A/N: Hellllllllllllllllllllo. Well, here's another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for it being a bit late, I hate school. I wish for one day I could just sit at the computer writing....


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